PowerPoint PresentationLouisiana State University - Shreveport
2003 Prentice Hall, Inc.
Understand how service firms improve their competitive differentiation, service quality, and productivity.
Identify how goods-producing companies can improve their customer support services.
2003 Prentice Hall, Inc.
Government sector
Hybrid: equal parts service and goods
Major service with accompanying minor goods and services
Pure service
Cannot be touched, seen, tasted, heard, or smelled before purchase
Lack of trial means higher consumer risk
Consumers rely on cues to draw quality inferences
Marketers must try to “tangibilize the intangible”
2003 Prentice Hall, Inc.
Characteristics
Intangibility
Inseparability
Variability
Perishability
Services are produced and consumed at the same time (air travel)
Service providers and sometimes other customers become part of the service (restaurant)
Strong preferences for service providers exist
2003 Prentice Hall, Inc.
Characteristics
Intangibility
Inseparability
Variability
Perishability
Service providers vary with respect to attitudes, skills, mood, etc. Even the same provider may give different service on a different day.
Quality control is critical:
Hiring the right people
Capacity / demand management is critical:
Demand side strategies
Supply side strategies
Share services
Marketing Strategies
People, physical evidence, and process must be considered in addition to the 4 “P’s” when creating external marketing plans.
Successfully delivering a service often depends on staff being trained via internal marketing efforts.
2003 Prentice Hall, Inc.
Marketing Strategies
Interactive marketing refers to the employees’ skill in serving the client.
Customers judge a service by its:
Technical quality
Functional quality
Search qualities, experience qualities and credence qualities are evaluated by customers.
2003 Prentice Hall, Inc.
Innovative features
Delivery system
Managing productivity
The service quality model identifies five gaps that can cause service delivery failure
Service companies that successfully address these gaps follow common practices
2003 Prentice Hall, Inc.
Service Delivery Failure Results
2003 Prentice Hall, Inc.
Well-Managed Service Firms
Share These Characteristics
2003 Prentice Hall, Inc.
Industrialize the service
Give customers incentives
to serve themselves
When designing service support programs, marketers must consider key customer concerns:
Failure frequency
Downtime duration
Out-of-pocket expenses
Marketers must design appealing and competitive service offerings that will attract customers. Service offerings should include:
Facilitating services
Value-augmenting services